Seton Hall Tops DePaul
10/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- Seton Hall defeated DePaul in 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 26-24) Saturday in BIG EAST Conference volleyball action at Walsh Gymnasium. The Pirates improve to 12-10 and 4-3 in league play, while the Blue Demons fall to 3-18 and 1-7 in conference action.
The Pirates used a balanced attack in their straight set victory as the offense registered a .314 clip with Meghan Matusiak and Tricia Meyers each tallying double-digits kills. Matausiak’s 11 kills came on a match-high .600 attack percentage while Meyers chipped in 10 kills for a .421 clip.
After falling behind in the early portions of the first set, the Blue Demons tied the stanza at 14 on a Seton Hall attack error. The teams continued to trade points and DePaul took a 22-21 advantage on a kill by Sarah Cullen. The Blue Demons would stall at 22 as the Pirates took the next three points on a Blue Demon setting error, service ace and kill.
Seton Hall hit a match-high .520 in the second set. The Pirates tallied 14 kills on their way to a 25-16 victory. The two teams traded points early but a 4-4 tie quickly turned into a 13-6 Pirate advantage and the Blue Demons were forced to use their second timeout of the stanza. Following the timeout, the Blue Demons played much better, however Seton Hall closed out the frame on a 12-10 run.
The third stanza looked to be all DePaul as the Blue Demons controlled the set and took an 18-11lead on a kill by Jacie Fiedler. However, the pesky Pirates chipped away at DePaul’s lead and tied the set at 21. The teams traded points as there were four more times before the Pirates faced match point. A kill by Sarah Osmun sealed Seton Hall’s 26-24 set three victory.
Cullen paced DePaul with 11 kills while Kate Letcher and Fielder each chipped in nine. Letcher tallied a team-high .389 clip and a team-best two service aces.
Defensively, the Blue Demons outblocked the Pirates 6-5. Letcher registered a season-high five block assists while Lauren Blasi added three block assists.
Mattie Boyd recorded a team-high 11 digs for the Blue Demons while Seton Hall's Allie Matters paced all players with 22 digs.
The Blue Demons return to the court on Sunday at Villanova. The BIG EAST action begins at 1 p.m. (CST).
Notes: Sarah Cullen has finished the last 16 of 17 matches with double-digit kill totals... Cullen ranks second in the conference by averaging 3.70 kills per set (296 kills)... Cullen has 13 double-doubles (kills-digs) this season and 21 in her career...Jacie Fiedler has registered double-digit kill totals in 13 of the Blue Demons’ 19 matches, while she has finished 28 career matches in double-digit kill totals... Seton Hall leads the all-time series with DePaul 4-0.